Misery's Prodigy
by KendraLestrange
Summary: My attempt so far on an original story. Please Review, it would be helpful.


The war began when a group of five sorcerers, known as the Upper Power, started taking over small parts of the world. After five years of intemperate murders and overweening dominance, the five started getting greedy with their power and attempted to enslave humanity. After a largely failed attempt, the world was left in ruins and millions of people had died. Any other sorcerers' and sorceress' were immediately sent to their death by the remaining authority. After anyone suspected of magic was killed, still nothing changed. People lived in fear that one day the upper power would rise once again, so the worlds' surviving population has detached and concealed themselves away from the rest of the world. The only people left who roam the world freely are those without a home, the remnants of the government sent to kill any and all sorcerers', and of course the surviving sorcerers'. And that's where I am. No home and no one to go home to, roaming the Earth trying to stay away from the people trying to kill me.

I peered out from behind the car that had been abandoned years before. As I grab the bumper for support, specks of pesky rust fall onto the sleeve of my jacket. I leaned forward more to get a better look at almost empty, cracked and overgrown plant infested road. Despite the roads indefinite lack of life there seemed to be a pair of headlights traveling down the long stretch of asphalt. As the car pulled forward and closer I ducked behind the car I was gripping onto. My back pressed roughly against the bumper I watched as the large black vehicle passed, the exhaust pipe spurting pollution into the air. Not that it matters. The world was already as messed up as it was going to get. Looking up at the sky, the only thing I could see was the grey and semi-green clouds that hung over the world like it had been doing for so many years. I stood up and let out a breathe of relief as the car drove into the distance, finally to where I could not see it. I turned behind myself, "Pip, come here." The small boy walked towards me, and grabbed my hand.  
Peregrine, or Pip, was only five. He was an infant when I had found him, left in a house somewhere near Los Angeles. I have adopted him, if you would, and have considered myself to be his legal guardian since then. My name is Eris, now nineteen. When I was younger I had been easily driven to tears or thrown into a destructive rage. With life at my old home as messed up as it could be, I took extra strain from the world around me. I am a sorcerer, or a sorceress. Only few people knew and accepted me for who I was, my parents not being apart of those who did. Foolishly, I thought that when I would grow older things would change, they would get easier. I assumed that I would fit in, that I would find people who were like me. But when I finally did grow up, I found out that I was grossly wrong. My life went from bad to worse when the war started. Constantly looking over my shoulder and sleeping little to none, afraid of the high authority finding Pip and I.  
I walked out onto the road, Pip following me closely behind, we crossed and started towards the small piece of forest overgrowth. We entered through a small break in the tree line, the brightness of day diminished as we stepped foot under the canopy of leaves and started walking. We walked over the roots of overgrown trees, rocks turned to rubble, and patches of light shining off of puddles of water. Looking forward, keeping my eyes on the path ahead, I felt a tug at my shirt. "Eris?" Pip looked up to me with pleading eyes. "I'm tired." He started to drag his feet and trudged his way behind me.  
"Come here." I held my hands out to him and he stuck his arms towards the my open arms. He grabbed me around my neck and wrapped his legs around my waist, his head burrowing into the crook of my neck.  
As day fell to night, the darkness of the forest increased and sight was something unknown. Noises were amplified; the hoot of an owl, the scurrying of small rodents, and the call of an unknown bird. My teeth were clenched in anticipation, the same anticipation that someone would find me. With every step I took my anxiety grew.  
I stopped when I heard baying from behind me, it was inhumane the frequency of the howl. The cry from a laeleps. The laeleps are a beast brought up from the depths of the world by the Upper Power, bred and determined only to kill anybody and anything. I couldn't see the creature, but I knew that it was there.  
My heart thudded in my chest as I waited for a sign, to move, to run. It was granted when the same howl was heard farther away. Relief flooded through my body, and I started walking again, faster this time, the footsteps making barely a sound.  
Pip had fallen asleep and was snoring lightly, and my legs started to ache with every stride I took, walking over the rocky, and newly muddy terrain. By the time we made it out the other side of the forest stars were twinkling, standing out over the black canvas. There was nothing in sight except for rolling hills. They kept until the horizon line swallowed them whole. I smiled. "Pip, wake up." my voice in a barley audible whisper. He stirred for a moment before picking up his head. Dark brown curls blocked his sight. He moved his hair out of his way and looked up at me, his icy blue green, tired eyes starring up lazily. "We're going to make camp here." I set him down on the ground, He stood there rubbing his eyes. I swung the bag from my back down onto the ground and kneeled down. Opening the top, I pulled out a small blanket and held it out to Pip. He grabbed it and held it to his face, greedily taking in the softness of the old fabric. I shut the sack again, and laid it on the ground. Pip stand there watching `45 me with a wearily please look upon his face as I focus my eyes onto a small patch of dead grass the the left of me. I feel a surge of energy ripple through my body, the response was a small orange flame that flicker on the ground, starting to engulf the patch with the lick of its burning tentacles.  
I snatched a few twigs of the ground and surrounded the fire with them, preventing a future mishap. Pleased with myself and the heat. I lay on the ground, placing the bag under my head, Pip came and laid down next to me. I draped my arm around him and held him closer as he nuzzled his head into my chest. His fingers were intertwined with a strand of my hair. The black curl being spun by his little fingers.  
"Good night Eris." He mumbled sleepily.  
"Goodnight Pip."  
I looked into the flames of the fire that were thrashing around, shooting orange sparks into the air. I look down at Pip, his chest slowly rising and falling, his small hand limp, but still holding the piece of my hair. From the light of the flickering flame, I could not see a speck of dirt on his translucent skin, though he's been walking ever since he could. His exhales are slow and steady through his partially open mouth. I had knowingly endangered him from the moment I had found him in that crib. The small dark, dust and scratch free wood with the baby inside. His eyes as blue as the unconfined ocean waves, and his laugh as playful as schoolyard children used to be. With that thought I pulled him a little bit closer, he would never have that. Never have the enjoyment of playing with other children his age. They would all be hiding from the surface world that had been plauged with war. But though the war was long over, he saw it everyday. Us running from the people that threatened to kill me, and if me then him as well. The small boy wrapped in my arms stirred for a moment, but then drifted off into sweet bliss. I closed my eyes, hoping to fall asleep with little issues, thankfully my desire came true.

I awoke to the sounds of rustling. To large to be a normal animal, to small to be a laeleps. My eyes opened as I felt hands pry between myself and Pip. I rolled off of my back and onto my knees, facing the thicket I saw a boy. Well, not a boy, a young man. He took a step towards me, my hands reached behind me for Pip, but he wasn't there. I stood up and turned around to see another boy, younger, holding a sleeping Pip in his arms. My teeth clenched and were grinding together, my fists' were clenched, my glare lethal, and my tolerance level for the situation running low. "Put him down." I spoke, my words dripping with venom. Another set of arms wrapped around me and someone was talking into my ear.  
"Calm down." The hot breathe against the side of my face. "We aren't here to hurt you." I let out a light laugh.  
"Then let me go and put Pip down." I felt his arms loosen and drop. I took a step towards the boy carrying Pip. "Give him here." I held out my hands and he held Pip in the space between us. Without looking down from the boy's gaze I grabbed Pip and held him close, cradling him. I looked up. "What do you want?"  
"We want to help." His hands were up in a defensive position.  
"Well, I don't need any help." Stepping backwards, I snatched my bag of the ground and swung it over my shoulder.  
"Well, you can't be wandering around out here. There are sorcerers'." He spoke the last part in a whisper as if it was the biggest secret in the world. I let out another laugh.  
"I think I can handle myself quite nicely." I turned and started to walk. "Have been for ten years." I stepped down onto the ground with my left foot, but pulled back in pain. I looked down to see the smoldering embers spark red at me before turning to black again. I let out a stressed 's' sound as I balance on one foot. The heat of the ember had left a tender spot on the bottom of my foot, it felt like ice the way it harshly burnt. The young boy walked infront of me and took Pip. Before I could interject, the other boy scooped me up bridal style.  
"No choice now. We're bringing you to our camp."  
"Put me down." I said, ignoring him completely, my teeth clenched.  
"Not likely." I crossed my arms and huffed. "Would you rather walk then?" I contemplated it. The burn forming on my foot could be healed if they would just leave me alone. I knew we were running low on food. My thoughts wandered to Pip before a voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "Hello?" I looked up at the boy who was smirking, looking forward as he stride. I studied him closer. In the light of the moon you could make out his face. He had high prominent cheekbones, his smirk still being worn. His eyes were a shade of brown, but as the light shone they seemed to change to a green with specks of gold. His black hair was tousled and wavy on his head covered parts of his forehead.  
"You know your cocky for a refugee." He let out a huff of a laugh and smirked.  
"I'm not a refugee."  
"Then what are you?" I asked, focusing on trying to numb the pain in my foot.  
"A Magus Executioner of the high authority." He spoke in a dramatic voice, adding a bit of a southern accent on the last words, making it want to leave an impression. My heart sped a little knowing that only in a few short movements I had put my life in danger, and more importantly Pip's, literally being carried by someone who was trained to kill me.  
"Oh, well nice to know a clotpole is looking after me." He twisted his head to the side and his face wore a look of bewilderment, taking in the comment.  
"So I take it you don't like the high authority?" He questioned with the same look of insult on his face.  
"Not one bit." His arms tenses a bit.  
"Well, that's explainable coming from a refugee." My jaw fell.  
"And what makes you think I'm a refugee?"  
"Well, those are the only type of people we see walking around." He laughed. "Unless your a sorcerer." He laughed and I forced an unbelievable laugh.  
"Yeah, a sorcerer." I trailed off.  
"So where are you from?"  
"Excuse me?"  
"If you're a refugee, where are you from?"  
"I'm not a refugee, I just don't have a home." I snapped, my voice breaking at the end of the sentence.  
"Oh," He paused and racked his brain for a moment, "So where did you live before?"  
"Somewhere in the northern moved a lot so." I ended the sentence quickly hoping he would drop the subject.  
"Well, that would explain how you ended up in Arizona."  
"Yeah, I guess it would." I exhaled and left an uncomfortable silence to fill the air.  
"Well, my name's Colin." He introduced, trying to fill it.  
"Eris."  
"And that's Pip?" He turned and cocked his head in the direction of the pair behind us. I nodded. "That's Morgan." He gestured once more to the boy holding Pip.  
With the same cheekbones and ever changing eyes, it was obvious they were brothers. But the differences shone through as well, his hair bronze and a bit more tamed and his overall stature. Unlike his brother Morgan slouched a bit and was a scrawny stick.  
"So where are your parents?" His face turned to a bit of bewildering confusion then he smiled.  
"Figures you could work out that we're related." He huffed.  
"What, you don't like people knowing your related?"  
"Not particularly, he's a mess. But you and Pip, where are your parents?"  
"First, we're not related, and second," I paused, "They both abandoned us." I sighed and he nodded, taking in the information, but he kept quite. Besides the heavy thumps of their feet on the ground crunching over dead grass, dirt, and rubble, there wasn't a sound.  
"You never answered me." I spoke, my head leaning against his chest.  
"About what?"  
"Your parents, where are they?" A short silence filled the air and he exhaled.  
"Well, my mum passed away when I was younger and my dad is back at camp."  
"Sorry about your mum."  
"Yeah." He paused. "She was killed when I was ten."  
"So how would your father feel if he found out you left camp?"  
"Probably pretty pissed." He spoke with complete confidence and a toothy grin. "But he'll be happy we found more people." His smiled reduced to an unconvincing smirk.  
"More people?"  
"Well, found more people that are safe with us now. He doesn't like the thought of sorcerers' running around with normal people or refugees. That at any moment they could kill others."  
"Wow. Never thought of it like that."  
"Yeah, not many people do. Some will try and hide sorcerers' because they think they're good. In those cases the harborers are killed as well."  
"But what if your just born like that?"  
"Doesn't matter, sorcerers' are second-rate, unacceptable abominations." He let out a laugh. "Here we are." I turned my head. Rather large green tents filled the small, dead field. Lanterns hung from the surrounding trees' branches. Yells of laughter could be heard throughout the camp as well as whinnies' from tied up horses. A large open area in the center of the tents was being surrounded by the men who should have been sleeping at this late hour.  
"What's going on?"  
"I don't know." We walked closer to the camp. "I think they caught one." A smile appeared on his face as he broke out in a sprint towards the center of the tents.  
"A sorcerer?"  
"Or a sorceress." He laughed.  
We came up behind the thick wall of men gathering around the boy in the middle of the group, he couldn't have been more than fifteen. Colin fought through the wall until we made it to the front. A full-grown man stepped out into the center of the group infront of the boy, with a torch in hand. His features dramatically enhanced by the flame of the torch. Messy dirty blond hair, untidy, as if he had just gotten out of bed. His jaw bone being lighten in a way to extenuate the square jaw line. His eyes though, familiar. "Is that your father?"  
"Yeah."  
"He's going to kill him, the boy?"  
Colin's eyes glint with a burning eagerness. "Yeah."  
"But he's only a boy." He let out a quiet laugh.  
"Being a sorcerer is against the law, no matter the age." I turned my head looking down at the bound boy on the ground. Fear was the only thing readable on his face. He looked around the circle of men until his eyes mine. He let out a drawn out breathe and shut his eyes in anguish.  
"As you know sorcery is strictly forbidden and even the existence of one threatens our lives." Colin's father's voice roared. "We are here tonight to take the life from this warlock." The men roared with thrill as his father brought the torch closer to the boy.  
"This can't possibly be okay." Colin hushed me. The torch touched the ropes of the boy on the ground, and quickly caught the flame. Quickly the flames engulfed the young boy on the ground. His screams of pain and agony rang out for all to hear. Yet everything was silent. "Colin." He hushed me once more. "Colin, let's go." I pleaded, keeping my voice at a whisper. The howls of suffering and torture filled the silent wind. "Colin." My voice broke. "Let's go." He looked down at me. his eyes though filled with excitement and happiness, comprehension weaved it's ways through his pupils. He turned away from the burning. He started walking towards the back of the camp.  
There was a small lamp in the tent, making silhouettes of the things inside. It looked to be nothing more than a sleeping area. Colin set me down on the ground and peeled back the flaps of the tent revealing a sleeping Pip and a mound of blankets'. I turned to Colin. "And my foot?"  
"I'll have the physician check it out in the morning." I sighed.  
"Really?" He nodded with an 'obviously' type of smile. "Well, goodnight."  
"Night." I climbed inside the tent and shut the flaps. Crawling under the blankets, I pulled Pip closer to me. Figures he's still asleep. I let out a breathe of relief. I had survived today, but who knows how long that would last.

-End of Prologue-


End file.
